If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

The newest rumor I heard was P. Kane to the Pens. This will never happen. We have no one to give up for him. If we had Staal, the deal could be based on Staal for Kane. Now we would have to give up Morrow and Bennett for Kane. The only prospects that I view as completely off-limits are Maatta (we need a D like him), Morrow (duh) and Despres (duh again). I'd rather not trade Pouliot, but I will if it would be for someone like Kane. Same with Bennett, Harrington and Dumoulin. Any others are expendable.

I don't know what it would take, but I loved P Kane in the olympics. His speed with Sid would be nasty!

It is hard to predict. It will definitely take Bennett, a 1st and one of our D prospects. Refuting my previous argument, I want to trade Morrow more than Pouliot. Let's look at the stats (I'll disclude their 1st season, since they both only played about 5 games).

Morrow: 1st Season- 0 G, 7 A in 41 games
2nd Season- 7 G, 24 A in 63 games
3rd Season- 9 G, 40 A in 60 games
4th Season- 17 G, 47 A in 62 games

Total: 33 G, 118 A in 226 games, .67 PPG

Pouliot: 1st season- 5 G, 25 A in in 60 games
2nd season- 11 G, 48 A in 72 games

Total: 16 G, 73 A in 132 games, .67 PPG

They may be the exact same, but Pouliot did that in his 1st 2 seasons. Morrow had .37 PPG in his 1st 2 seasons. It would be better to keep both of them. Pouliot is also over a year younger than Morrow, and still has 2 years of eligibility left in the WHL, while Morrow has to play pro next year. I think Pouliot is a lot more likely to pan out, he was the 1st overall pick in the WHL draft in 2009. Maatta and Despres are staying definitely, they are the defensive/2-way gems that we will desperately need. I really think we might trade Letang in 2 years, since the pairs could be:

Despres-Morrow
Maatta-Pouliot

However, we can only do that if Pouliot and Maatta are both NHL ready by the 2014-2015 season. Morrow and Despres will be ready after 2 full pro seasons (will be Despres 3rd). That would also give us both a great winger for Sid and cap space from not signing/trading Letang. Since Despres will probably take less than $4 million, and Morrow will be in the last year of his ELC, we would have a ton of cap space to get a winger.

Oh and Grabner (I may have said his name a few pages back) was put on the block. He is 24, career high of 34 goals, drafted 14th overall in 2006, similar build of Neal but he is lighter, won the fastest skater at the 2011 NHL all-star game, oh and he had 34 goals in his rookie season, but had only 20 goals and 32 points last season (his 2nd full season). He is the definition of a speedy scorer. This is his piece on Hockey's Future:

"Grabner’s game is all skating and skill. He has the speed to find openings and create scoring opportunities with the ability to stickhandle at top speed. He is very difficult to stop on breakaways and other situations close to the net. He has yet to maintain the consistent performance that his high talent level suggests and this has been a source of frustration at times. As with many high level scorers who dominate at an early level, two-way play is an area that needs to be refined as he progresses in pro hockey. His dominant talent level make him dangerous to opponents both in the power play and penalty kill phases of the game. He’s the kind of player who can exhilarate and exasperate in the same shift. Grabner is still a raw talent who needs refining but has the potential to score 30 or 35 goals based on his skill level."

Sounds good, but I'd rather get a player more like Neal than Grabner. Not a bad choice though

I'd love any of these guys at the right price. On play alone, I'd rank them,

1. Ryan
2. Kane
3. Stewart
4. Grabner
5. Setoguchi

Even with any of these players, I'd love to see a guy like Sykora or Arnott come in for a cheap 1 year deal, looking to win a cup. It is looking like SJ, Van, or PHX for Doan. Which was what I suspected from the start.

I heard rumors that the Pens and Flyers would play an outdoor game every season (or every few seasons) at Beaver Stadium at PSU. That would be sweet. Just let the Pens and Flyers play in that every few years and let other teams play in the Winter Classic.

Pens should steal Benn like they stole Neal. They could do it, structure a deal like what Philly did with Weber. Dallas wouldn't be able to afford it, and we would probably lose 2 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd. I'd offer a deal like 8 years, $44 million, and have the breakdown be this:

Year 1: $12 million
Year 2: $12 million
Year 3: $6 million
Year 4: $3 million
Year 5: $3 million
Year 6: $3 million
Year 7: $3 million
Year 8: $2 million

That is an affordable cap hit of $5.5 million. Would this work or what? We would only lose 2 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd, something I would be willing to do.

I think Dallas would match it. I don't like that idea in general though because it pisses people off and limits trade partners in the near future sometimes. Some teams take offense to moves like that. I bet some teams will refuse to talk to the Flyers because of what they tried to do. It seems to me like an honor system almost.